Jar-opener



R. A. KIEFER.

JAR OPENER.

APPLICATION FILED APR-3.1918.

Patented Dec. 6, 1921.

2 SijEETSSHEET 1.

R. A. KI EFER.

JAR OPENER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 3,1918. 1,399,349. P e ted Dec. 6, 1921. 2 sutnvsnm 2.

RAYMOND A. KIEFER, O F RAMSEY, NEXV JERSEY.

JAR- OPENER.

Application filed April 3,

l o "tC/lOFiZ- may concern Be it known that I, Rariirolvn A. Kinrnn, a citizen of the -United States, residing at Ramsey, county of Bergen, and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Jar-Opener, of which the following is a specification.

This invention pertains to that class of household utility articles by the use of which fruit jars and other containers may be opened quickly and with minimum effort.

It is well known that jars used for domestic preserving purposes are provided with covers adapted to be seated tightly upon gaskets of compressible material, suclr as rubber, by the action of clamping-means of one form or another, such as by a screw coupling in the so called Mason or by a pivoted yoke and lever arrangement. Such devices generally termed a. hermetically sealed closure in order to exclude air from the contents of the jar; but while such devices are effective for the performance of their functions, the cover becomes so tightly closed that th housewife, and others, find considerable ditliculty in opening the jar. Various expedients have been resorted to for removing the cover, such is flowing hot water upon the metal cover for exoanding it, prying off the cover by the aid of a knife or other instrument, anti resorting to opening devices of one form or another.

Experiments show that a the difiiculty in removing a jar cover is due to the adhesion between a marginal part of the cover and the rubber gasket, the latter more or less and evolving a icky or gummy substance forming a close 5 int with the cover and precluding placement except by the application siderable force.

lily invention aims to provide means suit able for use in connection with 7 kinds of jars, as well as for opening other containers, such as the crowns or caps which are crimped upon bottles and jars, and for perforating thin metal closures of cans and other metal vessels.

A salient feature of my jar opener is a gasket stripper, by which designation is meant a device operable for gasket between the jar and its cover, wherebv air is admitted to. the jar and the sealed connection intermediate the jar and cover chief source of of con- Specification of Letters Patent.

act primarily to secure what may be its dis different removing the.

1918. Serial No. 226,348.

ed, thus enabling the cover to be opener constructed in accordance or the gasket stripper, referred to are, and for a cover gripping member, the atter being embodied in the form of a lever which is provides at one end with a jaw.

Said annular carrier is novel in construction, first, to adapt it for use with the gasket stripper, anc, second, to provide for cooporation with the cover-gripping member. The annular carrier is provided with means for mounting he gasket stripper, said means 1n one form being a lag and handle adapted to receive a constituting one constructional form of the gasket stripper. Said screw stem is tapering at one end, and said stem is positioned radially on the annular carrier so as to be movable part way across the opening in the annular carrier, an edge portion of said carrier opposite to the gasket stripper stem being beveled with a view to thrusting said edge portion beneath the gasket on one side of the jar whereas the stem is thrust into the gasket on the other side of the jar, after which the carrier and stripper may bepartially rotated in a manner to forcibly remove the gasket from its position between the cover and jar.

he cover gripping member is angular in form in order to produce a lever and the jaw, said lever being fulcrumed 0n the annular carrier in a manner to project the jaw into or across the opening in said carrier when the lever is turned in one direction, whereby the jaw and the carrier are adapted for gripping contact with the cover, so that a partial rotation of the instrument operates to unscrew the cover from the jar sufiiciently to interrupt the tight contact of the cover with the gasket.

aid cover and a hook whereby the instrument may be used for prying up a crimped cap or seal on a bottle; and, further, the lever is provided with a punch which is thrust into the thin metal cover of certain kinds of metallic vessels in order to perforate the latter.

In addition to the utilities hereinbefore specified, my device is capable of operation in lifting a cover of the so-called clamp Patented Dec. 6, 1921.

s inventlon comprises an annular screw stem, the latter gripping member is provided at the free end of the lever wlth a shoulder ar without stripping the gasket or muti- 110 applied to a part lating the same. After the clamp comprising the yoke and lever are swung out of the way to release the cover, the instrument is fitted to the jar by placing the annular carrier over the neck thereof and the screw is rotated to thrust its pointed end between the gasket and a marginal portion of the cover, whereby the cover may be pried up an opened, leaving the gasketintact so that it may be re-used.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings, wherein-- p Figure 1 is a plan view of my implement a fruit jar, and illustrating the operation of stripping a rubber gasket from the position which it ordinarily occupies between the shoulder of the lower edge portion of the cover thereon.

Fig. 2. is a vertical section partly in elevation of the implement and thecovered jar shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through a fruit jar of another style illustrating a method of using the implement in order to lift the clamped cover, a part of the implement being shown in elevation.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the implement with the parts in a position to impart rotative movement to the screw cover of a fruit jar indicated in dotted lines.

Fig. 5is a detail vertical section through of the implement, illustrating the screw spindle in elevation.

The implement of my invention embodies a carrier member A, a lever member B and a screw spindle G.

The carrier member 1s 1n the form of a ring or annulus, the inner margin of which is toothed or serrated as at a, for a part of i the passage d, whereby its circumference. Said ring or annulus is provided, also, with a lug d, and in one form of the invention the carrier member and its lug d are unitary with a handle I). The lug and the handle cl D, respectively, are hollow so as to produce a continuous passage'cl, see Fig. 5, which passage is provided with a female thread for a part of its length. The screw spindle C extends through this passage, the male thread of said spindle be ing in engagement with the female thread of the screw spindle is adapted by a rotative movement to be moved lengthwise within the lug and the handle. As shown, the inner portion of the stem is tapered to a point, as at 0, whereas the other end of the screw spindle is provided with a suitable operating member, such as the head 0, whereby the spindle may be rotated so as to advance the pointed end 0 more or less within the opening of the annular carrier member. The ring is undercut for a part of its rated edge thereof, which undercut portion d to the spindle C,

fruit jar and the Fig. 2, so that it length adjacent the ser-,

is formed by a bevel 6 provided on the under surface of the carrier ring or annulus, and which undercut or beveled portion 0 is oposite'to the screw spindle G. The bevel e inclines toward the inner top edge of the carrier ring so that the latter will present a relatively sharp edge on the opposite side see Figs. 2 and 3.

The lever member B is of the form shown more particularly in Figs. 1 and 4:, that is to say, said member B is curved lengthwise and formed with a short arm I), the lever and its arm constituting practically a bellcrank lever. Said lever is fulcrumed in a suitable way on the carrier ring, preferably by means of a rivet or pin I) which passes through the lever member at its angular portion and is attached in a suitable way to the carrier ring A At one end portion of this lever it is provided with a gripping jaw 7", one edge of which is serrated or toothed, as at f, and when the lever is adjusted to the. operative position shown in Fig. 4. the serrated face of the jaw is substantially opposite to the serrated edge a of the carrier ring, whereby the ring A and lever member B are adapted for gripping the screw cover of the fruit jar in order to rotate said cover relatively to said jar, all as indicated in full and dotted lines in Fig. 4: of the drawings.

The outer end of the lever member is formed with a recess g, one end of which terminates in a bearing point g, the other end of which forms a hook G, the extremity of the lever being shown as having the puncturing point 71. The recessed end g of the lever member adapts the implement for use in lifting the crimped crowns of bottles adapted for containing beer, gingerale, etc, whereas the puncturing end it enables the device to be used for perforating the metal tops of certain kinds of cans. It is preferred to cast the carrier ring in one piece, and the lever member B is likewise cast in another piece. The parts are simple in construction, readily assembled so as to complete the device, and the entire implement is capable of manufacture economically. An important function of the new article is its adaptability for stripping the rubber gasket from a fruit jar. It is well known that the gasket J has a tendency to adhere to the cover I and the shoulder 21 of a jar I, see becomes difficult to rotate .a screw clamped cover I upon the jar I. The implement ma be used as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in or er to remove the gasket preliminary this connection it is desired to call attention to the fact that the lug d and the handle D are inclined to the plane of the carrier ring A, see Figs. 2, 3 and 5, and, accordingly, the longitudinal axis of the screw spindle is in like manner inclined to the plane of the carrier ring A When it is desired to to unscrewing the cover. In-

strip the gasket, the carrier ring is placed overv the screw cover and is manipulated so as to position the beveled the gasket and the lip at the lower edge of the jar. The carrier ring is inclined trans versely to the vertical axis of the jar so as to bring the pointed end of the screw spindle into contact with the gasket. The screw spindle is rotated in a manner to advance the pointed end 0 thereof into the desired engagement with said gasket, as shown in Fig. 2, and by applying pressure to the handle D the implement is partially rotated in a manner to pull the gasket out of the space between the shoulder z' of the jar and the lower edge of the cover, whereby the gasket may be removed or expeditiously in order to break the adhesion between the cover and the jar, after which the cover can easily be rotated upon said jar.

Another capability of the devicewith the screw spindle is illustrated in Fig. 3, wherein the screw spindle may be operated to pry loose the cover which is clamped upon a jar by any form of pressure-applying means, the same being shown in dotted lines-as a yoke and a screw, although it is customary to employ other equivalent means for clamping said cover. The carrier ring is positioned around the bottle below the shoulder at the mouth thereof, and the screw spindle is rotated so as or tapering end tween the cover and the jar, as

clearly shown in Fig.

3, thus prying off the cover and opening the jar for the admission of air so as to interrupt the suction between the jar and its cover. In Fig. at the instrument is shown as adapted for use in turning a screw cover relatively to a jar, for which purpose the member B is used instead of the screw spindle C. The carrier ring is fitted around the jar cover for the serrated edge a of said carrier ring to engage with said cover at one side thereof, after which the lever member B is turned so as to bring the serrated edge of the jaw 7 into contact with the cover. The operator now applies pressure to the lever member and the handle in a direction to grip the cover within the implement, and rotative movemeent is thus imparted to the cover through the agency of the implement in order to unscrew said cover. This enables the cover to be removed without mutilating the gasket, but in some instances the adhesion between the cover and the gasket is so close as to make it necessary to use the implement and its screw spindle in order to strip the gasket from its position.

In addition to the functions heretofore enumerated in connection with the fruit jars, the covers of which are either screw connected or are clamped in position relatively to said jars, the implement affords means for edge e'intermediate stripped to force its wedge-shaped. 0 below the gasket and belifting off the crowns of bottles or the covers of metallic vessels, and for perforating the covers of certain metallic vessels. As a bottle opener the implement is turned for the top portion of the bottle to be received within the recess 9 of the lever member, the bearing point resting upon the top of the crown, and the hook-Gr fitting beneath the lower edge of said crown, after which pressure is applied to the lever member B in order to lift the crown out of its position upon the bottle. In a similar way, the outer end of the lever member G may be used for lifting an edge portion of a. .metallic cover which is closed tightly upon a metallic vessel. Some kinds of metallic vessels are provided with thin portions in the covers there'- of, which thin portions require to be displaced in order to produce perforations in the cover. This may easily be done by forci bly thrusting the point it into contact with the thin 'metal part of the-metallic cover. Again, it is frequently desirable to perforate the metallic cover of a tin can or other similar vesseh The instrument provides means for readily producing perforations in the metallic cover. The lever member B'may be swung out of position and, the screw spindle C. rotated so as to advance its pointed enda substantially to the position of Fig. 5. IVhen thus adjusted, the implement is adapted to be turned into a vertical position so that the carrier ring will partially straddle the top portion of the vessel, and by forcibly depressing the implement into contact withthe metal cover the pointed end 0 of the screw spindle will be thrust through said metal cover so as to perforate it, this operation being repeated any desirable number of times.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: V

1. A jaropener embodying a carrier member, and a gasket stripper supported by said carrier member, said gasket-stripper being shiftable at will relatively to the carrier member, the shiftable movement of the gasket-stripper being independent of the movement of said gasket-stripper with the carrier member.

2. A jar opener embodying an annular carrier member having means for contact with a jar-gasket, and a gasket stripper attached to said annular carrier and movable therewith relatively to a jar, said gasketstripper being shiftable at will relatively to said carrier member, whereby the gasketstripper is adapted for such frictional engagement with the jar as to forcibly displace the gasket upon the rotative movement of the carrier member.

3. A jar opener embodying an annular carrier member the inner marginal portion of which is beveled, and a gasket stripper vancing and retracting itively to a jar, a cover supported by said carrier member at a point opposite the beveled marginal portion thereof, said gasket-stripper being shiftable at will relatively to the carrier member and such shifting movement of the gasketstripper being independent of a rotative movement of the carrier member.

4. A jar opener embodying an annular carrier, adapted for rotative movement relaspindle mounted tively to a jar, and a screw on said carrier, said screw spindle being rotatable independently of the rotative movement of the carrier member for adthe end portion of said screw spindle relatively to the opening in the carrier, whereby the spindle is adapted for use in mutilating a gasket lifting a jar cover and for stripping said gas ket beneath said jar cover.

5. A jar opener embodying a ring-like carrier having aroughened surface adapted to bear upon a gasket, and a screw spindle mounted on the carrier substantially opposite to the roughened surface, spindle being provided with a tapering and pointed end vportion adaptedto be thrust beneath a jar cover and operable for mutilat-v ing a gasket, the roughened surface of the ring-like carrier and the said end portion of the screw spindle cooperating, when the carrier is rotated, to strip the gasket.

6. A jar opener embodying a substan-' tially annular carrier member, the inner marginal portion of which is beveled for a desired distance, said carrier member being adapted for rotative movement relatively to a jar, and a gasket-stripping spindle carried by said carrier member in a position for contact with a 'ar-gasket, said spindle being movable with t e carrier member and being shiftable at will independently of the rotative movement of said carrier member.

7, A jar opener embodying a carrier member adapted for rotative movement relagripping member carrier, a cover gripping said carrier, and a gasket stripper mounted on the carrier at a point remote to the,

said screw supported by the carrier member, said cover-gripping member being provided with a jaw for contact with a jar cover, and a gasket-stripper supported by the carrier member and movable therewith during its rotative movement, said gasket-stripper be ing shiftable at will and independently-of the rotative movement of the carrier member.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination with a carrier member adapted to be rotated with respect to a jar cover, of 7 means supported by the carrier member and rotatable therewith for mutilating a gasket, said gasket mutilating means being rotatable with the carrier member and being 'shiftable at will independently of the rotative movement of said carrier member.

9. A ar opener embodylng a ring-like member pivoted to cover-gripping member;

10. jar opener embodying a ring-like carrier, provided with a serrated inner edge and 'Wlth a beveled inner margin, a covergripping lever fulcrumed on said carrier opposite to the serrated inner edge, and a screw spindle mounted on the vcarrier opposite to the beveled inner margin thereof 11. As a new article of manufacture, a jar opener comprising a ring-like carrier provided with a serrated inner edge and with a beveled inner margin, a cover-grip ping lever provided with an angularly-positioned and serrated jaw, said lever being pivoted on the carrier at a point opposite to the serrated edge thereof, and a screw spindle supported on the carrier opposite ary, 19 18.

RAYMOND A. KIEFER. 

